Limitable steam shower assembly



June 5, 1962 J. H. DUPASQUIER I LIMITABLE STEAM SHOWER ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 2, 1960 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH H. DUPASQUiER NN /UHH v A TORNEY I June 5, 1962 J. H. DUPASQUIER LIMITABLE STEAM SHOWER ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 2, 1960 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH H. DUPASQUIER ATTORNEY 3,337,766 Patented June 5, 1962 free 3,ll37,7ll5 LIMITABLE STEAM SHOWER ASSEMBLY Joseph H. Dupasquier, 560 Clarendon St., Gladstone, Oreg. Filed Nov. 2, 1960, Ser. No. 66,812 3 Claims. (Cl. 239-120) The present invention relates to means for delivering a so-called steam shower to paper or the paper web in the process of the manufacture of paper on a paper machine.

The advantages obtainable by the properly directed and controlled shower of steam directed against the paper or paper web at certain stages during the manufacture, as, for example, as the paper passes to the calender stack, or at earlier stages, are well known. It is also well known that preferably such a shower of steam should be directed upwardly against the underside of the paper or paper web, and that the delivered steam should not contain any water globules. I

In machines for manufacturing paper of extreme width, the paper web then having a width possibly up to three hundred inches, it frequently happens that the condition of the paper or paper web is not uniform as far as moisture is concerned throughout its entire width. As a result it has been found that a steam shower delivered uniformly across the entire paper web will result in some portions of the web being given the desired amount of moisture at the expense of having other portions containing too much moisture.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved steam shower assembly by which the steam can be delivered either uniformly across the entire width of the paper, or, if desired, can be limited to only a particular portion or portions of the width of the paper, and thus enable the final moisture content of the paper to be made more uniform for the entire width of the sheet withthe aid of the steam shower applied to those portions only which should receive the steam and increased moisture.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved steam shower assembly, adapted particularly for use in the manufacture of paper of considerable width, in

which the steam delivered from different areas across the assembly will be substantially uniform as regards temperature and freedom from undesirable water globules.

A further object of the invention is to provide a controllable and adjustable upwardly directed steam shower I assembly by which the operator can easily and quickly control the area of steam delivery so as to limit the application of the steam to a portion or portions only of the paper or web from time to time as conditions may require.

An additional object is to provide a device for delivering an improved and limitable steam shower which device will be simple and practical in construction, easy to in- .stall, and which will not involve any special problem of maintenance or of operation.

The manner in which these objects are attained with the improved shower assembly of the present invention, and the construction and manner of operation of the assembly, will be readily understood from the following brief description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGS. 1A and 1B together constitute a foreshortened sectional elevation of the shower assembly taken substantially along the longitudinal center line, with portions shown broken away for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view on line 22 of FIG. 1A, drawn to a smaller scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section on line 3-3 of FIG. 1A drawn to a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIG. 1B;

FIG. 5 is a similar section on line 55 of FIG. 1B;

FIG. 6 is a similar section on line 66 of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 7 is an end View of the assembly taken on line 77 of FIG. 1B; and

FIG. 8 is an elevation of the assembly, drawn to a smaller scale, and illustrating the device in operation.

The assembly includes a main housing 10 which is cylindrical in shape except for an additional V-shaped integral drain trough 11 (see FIGS. 4, 5, and 6) which extends along the bottom of the housing 10 for the entire length of the housing. The housing 10 is closed by end walls 12 (FIG. 1A) and 13 (FIG. 1B), which end walls are provided with openings through which steam pipes extend. The end walls 12 and 13 are formed with external flanges so as to enable an intake casting and an end cap to be bolted on the respective ends of the housing 10.

The housing 10 constitutes a steam chamber, or rather, a series of consecutive steam chambers. In the particular form of the invention illustrated in the drawings the housing 10 is divided into three separate steam chambers arranged consecutively in the housing and each extending for one third of the distance along the housing. These separate steam chambers, designated as chambers C, D, and E respectively, are formed by a pair of partition walls 14 and 15 (FIG. 1B) which divide the housing 10 into three chambers of equal size. Extensions 14 and 15 for these partition walls 14 and 15 respectively (FIG. 1B) also divide the closed bottom trough 11 into three sections C, D, and E corresponding to the chambers C, D, and E. A series of drain holes 16 in thebottom of the housing 10 lead into the drain trough sections and thus enable any water in the chambers C, D, and E to pass down into the corresponding portions of the drain trough 11. 7

Each of the drain trough sections C, D, and E is provided with a separate outlet port. Thus the trough section C (FIG. 1A) has an outlet port and a connected drain nipple 17; the next trough section D (FIG. 1B) has an outlet port 18 connected to a drain pipe 19 which extends along the bottom of the housing 10 and terminates adjacent the drain nipple 17; and the third trough section E (FIG. 1B) has an outlet port and connected drain nipple 20 located at the opposite end of the housing 10.

Three steam pipes 21, 22, and 23 extend the entire length of the housing 10, each steam pipe being so designed as to be capable of delivering steam into only one of the chambers C, D, or E, as presently explained. Thus, in the device illustrated, the pipe 21 delivers steam only into chamber C, pipe 22 delivers steamonly into chamber D, and pipe 23 delivers steam only into chamber E. The terminal ends of these three pipes pass through openings in the end wall 13 of the housing 10 (FIG. 1B), and are sealed. The ends of these pipes beyond the housing 10 are enclosed by an end cap 24 which has tubular compartments which extend around the ends of the pipes 21, 22, and 23 respectively. These tubular compartments extend for short distances beyond the respective ends of the corresponding pipes, as shown in FIG. 1B, to allow for longitudinal expansion of the pipes under the influence of heat.

The end cap 24 has a wall 25 corresponding in size to the external flange on the end wall 13 of the housing 10, and the end cap 24 is secured to the flange of the wall 13 by bolts 26, a suitable gasket 27 being placed between the adjacent walls. Each of the tubular compartments of the end cap 24 has a drain outlet 35 and the end portions of the pipes 21, 22, and 23 within these tubular compartments are each provided with a drain port of sulficient size to be in registration with the corresponding drain outlet. p

The three pipes 21, 22 and 23 pass through corresponding openings in the partition walls 14 and 15. Each pipe is entirely cylindrical throughout its extent except within the one chamber, C, D, or E, into which it discharges steam. In such chamber the bottom of the pipe is formed with an inverted V-shaped section, the extent of which is restricted to that particular chamber, and a series of steam jet holes extend vertically downwardly through the ridge or vertex of this inverted V-shaped section. Thus, for example, referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the pipe 21 which discharges steam into chambers C, but not into any other chamber, has an inverted V-shaped section 28 in the bottom of the pipe, located entirely within the chamber C, and is provided with a series of steam jet holes 29 which extend vertically downwardly through the ridge or vertex in this section for discharging steam from the pipe 21 into the chamber C.

The housing is formed with a steam-shower-discharging slot 30 extending longitudinally along the top of the housing 10 for almost the entire length of the housing. Thus steam delivered into chamber C from the jet holes 29 of the steam pipe 21 will be discharged through that portion of the slot 3% which is located in the top of chamber C. Should any globules of water be discharged with the steam from pipe 21 into chamber C then these globules will drop down to the bottom of the chamber C and pass through the drain holes 16 into the portion C of the trough 11, and any water collected in the portion C of the drain trough will be discharged through the drain nipple 17. The formation of the steam pipe 21 within the chamber C, with the inverted V-shaped section and the discharging steam jets, is the same as that of the steam shower pipe described in U.S. Patent No. 2,642,314, issued under date of June 16, 1953, entitled Dripless Steam Shower Pipe.

The pipe 22 has a similar inverted V-shaped portion 31, with discharging jets, located entirely within chamber D; and finally the pipe 23 has such a V-shaped portion 32 located entirely within the third chamber E. No steam which is delivered into one chamber can pass into any other chamber. Consequently by controlling the delivery of steam into the separate pipes it is possible to control the areas in which the steam shower will be discharged upwardly from the assembly against the paper or paper web passing over the assembly and positioned a short distance above the assembly. FIG. 8 illustrates the manner in which the device is employed. In this figure the wide paper web, which is being treated by the upwardly directed steam shower from the assembly, is indicated at P. The three chambers into which the housing 10 is divided are indicated at C, D, and E, their limits being indicated by the vertical dot and dash lines. Assuming that the appli cation of steam to the paper web is desired over two-thirds of the width of the web, but is not desired momentarily over the remaining third of the area width, due to the fact that there happens at the time to be more moisture in this portion of the web than in the other portions, the operator shuts off the steam in the pipe servicing the chamber E and in this way confines the steam shower substantially to the other two-thirds of the width of the paper web.

An intake casting 33 (FIGS. 1A and 2) is secured to the end wall 12 of the housing 10 by screws or bolts. This intake casting is divided by suitable partitions intothree passageways, each passageway having an inlet port on the outer face and an outlet port on the inner 'face. The three outlet ports on the inner face are so located as to correspond to the location of the receiving ends of the pipes 21, 22, 23 respectively, and the walls of these outlet ports in the casting are threaded and are of the proper size to receive the threaded ends of the respective pipes 21, 22, and 23. The inlet port for each passageway through the casting, which inlet port is located on the outer face of the intake casting, is so arranged as to receive the threaded end of a steam supply pipe. Thus, referring to FIG. 2, the three steam supply pipes 21', 22', and 23' are shown connected to the intake casting 33 and consequently are connected with the passageways which lead to the steam pipes 21, 22, and 23 respectively in the main housing of the assembly. The three supply pipes are connected with a suitable steam supply means indicated diagrammatically at S in FIG. 2.

Each of the steam supply pipes 21, 22', and 23 is provided with a. suitable shut-01f valve 34 (FIG. 2) to enable the operator to turn the steam oif or on for each of the steam pipes within the housing 10. Each of these steam supply pipes 21, 22', or 23' also has a drain outlet 38 (two of which are shown in FIG. 1A) located between its shut-off valve and the intake casting so as to enable any water collecting in the steam supply pipe to be drained off.

As a means of reducing the amount of water in the steam delivered into the passageways of the intake casting 33, and thus in the steam pipes 21, 22, and 23 of the assembly, a water trap disc 36 (FIG. 3) is secured in the end of each of the steam supply pipes 21', 22', and 23 where the supply pipe joins the intake casting 33. Each of these water trap discs 36 is provided with a row of steam inlet holes 37 adjacent the upper half of the periphery of the disc. In each steam supply pipe the driest steam will tend to be in the upper part of the pipe and thus tend to follow the top portion of the interior wall of the pipe, and the steam which is more heavily laden with water, together with any actual water globules, will tend to be in the lower portion of the supply pipe. Consequently the disc 36 in each supply pipe aids in trapping globules of water in the steam as received from the steam source and in delivering a somewhat drier steam into the corresponding passageway of the intake casting and into the steam pipe in the steam shower assembly. The water trapped in each supply pipe by its water trap disc 36 can be drained off through the drain outlet 38 of the pipe.

In addition to the fact that water in the bottom of each steam supply pipe will be kept from passing into the steam shower assembly, water collecting in the bottom of each steam pipe in the assembly will be kept from passing into the corresponding steam chamber of the assembly due to the fact that the steam jet holes in each pipe through which the steam is discharged into the chamber, are located along the ridge of the inverted V-shaped portion of the pipe, and the Water collecting in the bottom of each steam pipe in the assembly can be drained off from the end of each pipe through the corresponding drain outlet provided -for that pipe in the end cap 24. Finally, any water particles which nevertheless are delivered into a chamber of the assembly will pass down into the drain trough at the bottom of the chamber and be drained off. Consequently there is no likelihood of the undesired globules of water being discharged upwardly against the paper or paper web from any chamber of this steam shower assembly.

While each steam pipe in the housing 10 delivers steam only to a single chamber in the housing, nevertheless, when that steam pipe is receiving steam from the intake casting and corresponding steam delivery pipe, the entire portion of that pipe within the housing 10 will be filled with steam and the pipe will be kept heated by the steam throughout its entire length. Consequently each pipe in the assembly housing 10 contributes to the maintenance of desired heat in all the chambers of the assembly whenever that pipe is being used, even though that pipe discharges steam only into one chamber. When one of the pipes is shut ofi temporarily, during such time as the delivery of steam from the related portion of the assembly is not desired, the heat from the other pipes which are being used will prevent that pipe from becoming chilled and in this way will aid in keeping the unused pipe hot and in proper condition for receiving and delivering steam whenever this pipe is subsequently called upon to do so. The maintenance of heat in the assembly even though steam is being discharged from only a portion of the assembly is an additional feature of the invention.

Although for the purpose of illustration the drawings show three steam pipes, and consequently three steam discharging chambers, in the assembly, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out in the same manner with a greater number of chambers and corresponding steam pipes, or even with only two chambers and two steam pipes, if desired. However, it has been found that, as a general rule, three steam chambers and the corresponding three steam pipes for the steam shower assembly will be sufiicient for providing the desired limitable and controllable steam shower in the case of paper webs or paper of considerable width during manufacture and for satisfactorily meeting the various conditions which may prevail from time to time. Other minor modifications in the steam shower assembly described herein would also be possible without departing from the principle of the invention.

I claim:

'1. A steam shower assembly of the class described comprising an elongated shower-dispensing housing extending the entire length of the assembly, said housing having a series of steam outlets extending along the top thereof, end walls at the opposite ends of said housing respectively, a plurality of transversely-extending partition walls in said housing dividing said housing into separate steam chambers, a plurality of steam pipes extending in the same direction through said housing and through said end walls and said partition walls, the number of said steam pipes corresponding to the number of said steam chambers, steam supply means connected to each of said pipes beyond one end of said housing, a control valve for each of said steam pipes controlling the delivery of steam into the respective pipe from said steam supply means, a water drain for the end of each pipe located beyond the opposite end of said housing, said steam pipes having steam discharging orifices, said orifices of said pipes restricted to said chambers of said housing respectively, whereby each of said chambers can receive steam from one of said pipes respectively but whereby the delivery of steam into any one of said pipes will cause all of the chambers in said housing and the other pipes in said housing to be heated, and separate water drain means for each of said chambers at the bottom of said housing.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 with the addition of a water drain between the control valve for each pipe and the intake end of the pipe.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 with the ad dition of a water trap disc near the intake end in each of said steam pipes beyond the control valve, each of said water trap discs having steam ports restricted to the upper portion of the disc and requiring the steam passing into the pipe to pass through said ports, and a water drain for the intake end of the pipe between the control valve and the water trap disc for such pipe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,173,771 Cook Feb. 29, 1916 1,542,655 Ayres June 16, 1925 2,642,314 Dupasquier June 16, 1953 2,667,383 Hensel Jan. 26, 1954 2,736,106 Oifen Feb. 28, 1956 2,809,867 Dupasquier Oct. 15, 1957 2,949,239 Goyette Aug. 16, 1960 

